The present invention relates to a device and a method for widening a hollow body having an at least partially elastic region, in which an elastic device is firmly connected to the hollow body to widen the hollow body to a desired circumference.
In certain circumstances, there is a need in medicine to surround with a cover, e.g., to protect against mechanical or chemical influences or for the purpose of locating. Particularly in the field of organology, there is a need in certain cases to protect an organ against exterior chemical or mechanical influences by covering the organ. If these covers fit snugly, e.g. for locating purposes, elastic covers are employed which are widened accordingly before they can be drawn over the organs.
It is known to widen elastic covers from the interior by means of suitable tools or to manually open elastic covers in such a manner that the cover can be slipped over the object to be covered. When the cover slackens and thus contracts, the tools and/or fingers used for widening it reach in between the cover and the object to be covered and are pressed against the object by the contracting force of the cover. Especially if sensitive objects are involved, for example human organs, the contracting force of the cover transmitted through the assisting tools and/or fingers may result in deformations of the organs which can lead to irreversible damage. Moreover, there is also the danger that unevenness or edges of the assisting tools and/or fingers may damage the object to be covered when the contracting pressure is applied.
Once the elastic cover is positioned about the object to be covered in the proper manner and fits, the assisting tools and/or the fingers have to be drawn out from between the cover and the covered object. However, during this drawing out lateral forces act upon the cover and the object. These forces can, on the one hand, cause the object to shift position or the object and the cover to shift position in relation to each other, which on the other hand, may lead to further damage to the cover and to the covered object. The object to be covered is subject to further stress from jolting when the assisting tools and/or the fingers are ultimately withdrawn caused by the elasticity of the cover, i.e., a snapping down effect of the elastic cover against the object to be covered when the assisting tools and/or the fingers are finally fully withdrawn, leading to the brief greater local application of pressure than the static load pressure of the cover on the object. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to correct the position by widening the cover again without damaging the cover or the object to be covered, for example a human organ.
In addition to the known manner of slipping an elastic cover over an object to be covered generally described above, it is also known to widen the elastic cover from the exterior using a vacuum and then to slip it over the object. For this purpose the elastic cover is briefly surrounded by a larger, rigid cover and connected to it in an airtight manner, i.e. such that there is a vacuum, which can be adjusted as desired, in the intermediate space between the elastic and the rigid covers. After positioning by slackening, the cover can be mounted over the object to be covered from the exterior by means of suited pressure adjustment without any other external influences.
For this purpose, the opening of the external, rigid cover must possess a width which at least corresponds to the largest expansion of the object to be covered. Therefore, the elastic cover must also be correspondingly widened at this point. However, this expansion cannot be obtained at the point of contact by the developing vacuum, but by mechanical gripping forces.
The elastic cover has to be expanded at the opening of the surrounding rigid cover in a conventional manner so wide that it can be attached at the edges of this opening in a suited manner, for example airtight. The attachment can, for instance, occur by means of a rubber ring. On the other hand, the opening in the rigid cover has to be at least so large that the object to be covered can pass through without using force. In this way, moreover, no complete slackening of the elastic cover is possible simply by reducing the vacuum. Therefore, it is necessary to use, at least at the point of contact, mechanical aids which suitably widen the cover.
In addition to the drawbacks described above, which also occur due to the mechanical widening, there is also the expense of complex instruments. Moreover, it is necessary, depending on the varying sizes of the objects to be covered, to employ exterior covers of varying rigidity. Finally, readjustment is not possible after removal of the exterior, rigid cover from the flexible cover.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method for widening a hollow body at least partially having elastic regions, which device is connected to the hollow body and widens the hollow body to a desired circumference, in such a manner that it is possible to widen the elastic cover without mechanical influence on the interior side of this cover. Another object of the present invention is to avoid foreign bodies remaining between the cover and covered object after contraction of the elastic cover. A further object of the present invention is to provide a device and method in which the entire covering procedure is as gentle as possible for the object to be covered, and which avoids the brief exposure of local influences of force to the object to be covered.
These and other objects have been achieved by providing a device for widening a hollow body having an at least partially elastic region, including at least one elastic device connected to the hollow body, and a force transmitting means configured to stretch the elastic device in order to widen the hollow body.
These and other objects have also been achieved by providing a method of widening a hollow body having an at least partially elastic region, the method comprising the steps of attaching an elastic body to the hollow body, and stretching the elastic body with a force transmitting means in order to widen the hollow body.
The present invention provides and advantageous device and method for widening a hollow body at least partially having elastic regions, which device is connected to the hollow body and widens the hollow body to a desired circumference in such a manner that at least one elastic device which can be concertedly widened over its entire length by a force transmitting means is disposed on the hollow body.
The present invention is based on the idea to tangentially attach an elastic hose which has a closed end and an open end to the elastic hollow body suited for covering sensitive objects. A preferably flexible rod, the length of which is longer than the length of the hose which is disposed on the exterior side of the hollow body is entered into the open end of the hose. If the flexible rod is entered further into the hose than the length of the hose in the slack state permits, the elastic hose stretches over its entire length. The elastic hose is firmly connected to the walls of the hollow body along a generally circumferential course of the hollow body, such that the hollow body expands radially outward as the elastic hose stretches and assumes, in the region of the elastic hose, the widened shape of the flexible rod. The degree of widening is solely limited by the elasticity of the material and the length of the flexible rod.
Using several elastic hoses suitably disposed on or in the walls of the hollow body permits expanding the hollow body over its entire length in such manner that the objects to be protected can be covered.
In order to simplify handling of the invented expanding device for the operator, a suitable stopping and/or locking device may be provided at the open end of the elastic hose as well as at the proximal end of the flexible rod in such a manner that the elastic cover is automatically held open. Contraction of the cover can be precisely controlled by means of suitable end stopping and/or locking devices and controlled retraction of the flexible rod from the elastic hose.
It is also contemplated to expand the elastic hose disposed on the exterior side of the hollow body by concerted introduction of a gas or a liquid into the hose, requiring that the elastic hose can be made gas-tight or liquid-tight.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.